More from Boyd

Christianization of military force was strongly reinforced when
President George W. Bush depicted America as being on a holy 'crusade' against
'evildoers.' Elsewhere he said that America is the 'light of the world,' which
the 'darkness' (that is, our national enemies) could not extinguish. He was of
course quoting Scripture in making his point--Scripture that refers to Jesus
(John 1:1-5). The fact that evangelicals as a whole were not shocked by this
idolatrous assocation is, in my opinion, evidence of how thoroughly we have
accepted the Americanized, Constantinian paradigm. In this paradigm, what
applies to jesus ("the light of the world") can be applied to our country, and
what applies to Satan ("the darkness") can be applied to whomever resists our
country . . . With all due respect, this is blatant idolatry.

That a political leader would use religious rhetoric to rally people around
a military cause is not surprising. This is typical in all versions of the
kingdom of the world. What is surprising, and cause for great concern, is that
many evangelicals were not only not disturbed by this--they applauded it.

-Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation